Hey! Split-Window Bus Driver! Yeah, you! You’re invited to this gig! It’s the annual, off-the-grid, way-back-road, paved-and-dirt adventure drive from Willits all the way up to Mt. Shasta without one stop light. The 2005 Shasta Snow Trip is the 4th-6th of February, 2005.

Check out some of last year's photos.

Motel Rooms Highly Recommended. Due to temperatures typically in the teens around Mt. Shasta (elevation 5000 feet), reservations for two nights (Friday and Saturday) at a motel are recommended. Due to the cold reception at the Cold Creek Motel (formerly The Shasta Lodge Motel) last year we are currently looking for a good place for the whole group to stay as our base station while we’re up there.

Junk For Martha Stewart and Mr. Tool Time. The charming downtown area -walking distance- has all the shops Mr. Tool Time or Martha Stewart could hope for. Auto parts, outdoor gear, antique and food stores abound. After-hours, a party atmosphere descends on the town with vacationing skiers packing the dance floors of several bars. Quite a festive time and setting to let one's worries of work and home life rest.

Activities For Saturday. Skiing, ice fishing (that’s right- through the ice at Castle Lake) snowshoeing, snow boarding, train watching, shopping or driving the fun, dirt, railroad service roads will keep your activity up for Saturday. Also, for those of you that thought fish only came from packages in the frozen aisle, there’s a major fish hatchery in town. Just like the little goats at the petting zoo, you can feed hundreds of 20lb Rainbows rabbit pellets, and admission is free. Snow boarding down the slopes of Mt. Shasta Ski Park is what I'm looking forward to (they’re set-up for night skiing too).

The Base of Mt. Shasta Dinner. After Saturday’s activities, we all drive up to the base of Mt. Shasta and have the communal Base of Shasta Dinner. One of the greatest venues of the trip, here -parked encircling a central bonfire- is where we party and cook up the day’s excellent trout catch along with whatever anyone else is so ingenious to create. Don’t forget the Zin. Note: This high-elevation nighttime dinner can be a cold-test of the hardiest individuals and their respective bus’s static heating systems, so, just like the rest of the trip’s possibilities, prepare for it! (Did I hear someone say: Propane heater?) After the dinner, the night’s up to you- go snow boarding at the nearby ski park and/or go dancing and cause trouble at the lively bars; a given is the party that always carries-on back at the motel.

Pack The Creature Comforts. Don’t forget all the fun things you can do on the trip. That’s the nice thing about driving a bus: you can take along everything! Fishing, snow shoeing, skiing and cooking gear is recommended. Save money by bringing food, wine, beer, and pumpkin pie from home. Bring all the warm clothes, the propane heater, the camera, and what ever else will make you happy for a weekend in the mountains. Bring some firewood for the fire- if everyone brings a little, we’ll be just fine.

Mechanical Preparedness Is Essential- Pack The Following: tire chains, chain repair links, spare gas, 3 quarts of oil, full tool kit, jack, spare tire, plug kit, spare engine parts, fan belt, extra headlight (to replace the one you killed the deer with- no joke), extra brake fluid, JB Weld, Duct Tape, a current edition Delorme Northern California Atlas & Gazetteer (Mandatory! $15 at most book stores- could save your life! Shows every road we'll be traveling) a good first-aid kit, distress whistle on your person, cell phone (which may not work reliably so distant from cell sites), Citizens Band radio, propane lantern with extra mantles (don't overlook this one- extended repairs on the side of dirt road in the middle of nowhere, at night prove the superiority of propane), Bic lighter, good flashlights-plural, warm clothes, a sleeping bag and food for a couple days. If you’re not mechanically savvy and your image appears on the cover of the John Muir Idiot Manual, bring a friend that is savvy. Preparedness is comfort. If someone really lunches a motor, we carry a spare.

Buy And Mount a CB. If you don’t have one yet, get one. Enroute communication is a must. If there’s a driver out there with a HAM radio license, bring that rig too, as KF4FKR is your tour guide and superior comm would be welcome.

Possible Weather Will Not Stop The Trip. In four years, the trip has always had good-to-excellent weather, but the whole point of the trip is to challenge Mother Nature and have fun doing it. That the trip hasn’t fallen on a storming weekend is coincidental, that it may this year is part of your mission. So when February 4th coincides with a major snowstorm, know that this trip will go on regardless. Know that if it snows hard, you may log hours driving on the chains you’ve practiced installing at home. That you will need chains if it snows hard is very real. This trip is for your bus gents, to show you- when driven by a thinker- what an unstoppable transporter it really is. You won’t be alone, have courage and give your bus the chance.

Most Important of All: Bring Your Brain. This trip is the real deal. This is where mistakes pile up and bite, complacency in driving threatens, and lack of preparedness kills; basically, you get 450 miles of chances to have an accident where you won't be found. You will be prepared.

Tell All Your Fellow Transporter Drivers. Pass the word far and wide that their bus’s chance to really show them a good time has come! Pack, plan and prepare. Descend upon Willits February 4th for the fifth-annual Mt. Shasta Snow Trip!

Contact: Brian via kombisutra@hotmail.com or visit the Mt. Shasta Snow Trip website at www.shastasnowtrip.com

Check out some of last year's photos.

Read Brian's tale of the trip that started it all.